In order to be able to take off with a considerable noseup angle, long-fuselage aircraft require very long (i.e. tall) main landing gear in order to prevent the tail from touching the ground. Further, in order to ensure that the trim of an aircraft running on the ground is substantially horizontal without requiring long nose landing gear which is excessively long, it is desirable for the main landing gear to be of the rocking bogie type. In order to oppose tilting of the rocking beam which is hinged to the bottom end of the shock absorber rod and which forms the rocking bogie, it is necessary to provide a reaction link or a limited-opening torque linkage having one end fixed to the strut of the shock absorber and having its opposite end fixed to the rocking beam which is hinged to the bottom end of the shock absorber rod. The nearer the reaction link is fixed to the end of the rocking beam furthest from the wheel which touches the ground first, the greater the force opposing tilting. However, when the reaction link or torque linkage is fixed to a point close to the end of the rocking beam, the length of the stroke of the shock absorber rod is increased as is the retraction stroke in cases where it is necessary to retract the shock absorber while raising the undercarriage, and this gives rise to drawbacks, and in particular to an increase in the weight of the landing gear and to an increase in sliding friction on the shock absorber rod.
An object of the present invention is to provide a rocking bogie landing gear which makes it possible to obtain a greater force opposing the tilting of the rocking beam without simultaneously increasing the stroke of the shock absorber rod or the retraction stroke, and making it possible to reduce sliding friction.